The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program is constitutional today.
The decision reverses a ruling by Wake County Superior Court and leaves the program intact. The Opportunity Scholarship Program, enacted in 2013, provides scholarships of up to $4,200 to low-income families to send their children to the school of their choice.
Institute for Justice (IJ) Senior Attorney Dick Komer, who served as lead counsel for two families who intervened in the case, says the continuance of this choice program is a win for all students.
“When it enacted this scholarship program, the North Carolina legislature joined nearly 20 other states that have seen the wisdom of giving parents additional educational opportunities for their children,” Komer said, in a press release. “The great thing about school choice programs like North Carolina’s is that school districts can no longer take low-income students’ continued attendance for granted. Today’s decision...

Education

The U.S. Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of mandatory union dues. Several California public school teachers brought about this challenge, according to a report by the Orange County Register. Lead plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers argue freedom of association includes the freedom not to associate with any particular group. The court agreed to hear the case on June 30.
California is one of 26 states still requiring all public employees to pay union dues or...

The Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA) passed in the U.S. Senate with an 81 to 17 vote on July 16, but some education advocates expressed disappointment with this version of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) rewrite, according to a report by caffeinatedthoughts.com.
Joy Pullmann of the Heartland Institute, Lindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation and retired University of Arkansas Professor Sandra Stotsky say the ECAA doesn’t do enough to correct the problems with NCLB. The ECAA does not truly...